


Kindergarten Excuses in College

by DiamondWings



Series: Whites And Colours DO Mix [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Boy Han Jisung | Han, Bad Excuses, Don't judge a book by its cover, Enemies to Lovers, Except he can do wrong too, Feelings Realization, Good Boy Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung is a bit of an asshole at first, Han Jisung is the bigger idiot, Hwang Hyunjin did not deserve this disrespect, Hwang Hyunjin is an angel, In this house we stan consent, M/M, Pining, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28316439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Han Jisung can't stand the "nerds", the grade-obsessed, goody-two shoes, model student, dancing crew members and their friends - except Felix, but Felix is cool. He doesn't understand why Chan had to start dating one of them, and why he now had to - *shudders* - try and be friends with his hyung's boyfriend's friends. Especially Hwang Hyunjin, stupidly pretty and annoying... For what was he so pretty anyway? Probably had never even held hands with anyone, but thinks he's all that; right? Right?!
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Whites And Colours DO Mix [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073843
Comments: 4
Kudos: 107





	Kindergarten Excuses in College

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SparklePJM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklePJM/gifts).



> This story is a gift from [my_misty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_misty/pseuds/my_misty) for [SparklePJM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklePJM/pseuds/SparklePJM)

"What does Chan-hyung even see in that Minho guy?" Jisung grouched, kicking a stone into a row of trash cans. "He’s just a nerd, and so are his friends. All they care about is grades and dancing. What are we even supposed to talk about? I'll never forgive Chan-hyung if I die of boredom tonight!"

Changbin hummed along, neither agreeing or disagreeing, as he pulled his jacket tighter around himself against the cold. It was a damn nuisance that their university forbade motorcycles on campus; that alone should have convinced Chan and Felix to move out of the dorms, but they were stubborn.

"Felix dances too, though." He threw in casually when his mind caught up to Jisung's rant.

"But Felix is cool. These guys, they’re not. They’re nerds. With a one track mind, and not a fun one."

Changbin shrugged, indifferent. "Maybe. At least they’re pretty to look at."

Jisung snorted. "Really now? You consider that a redeeming quality?"

Again, Changbin shrugged. "We’re here." He announced; needlessly, since Jisung knew their friends’ front door as well as he did.

"Yay! To think I could be doing a million things that are much more fun right now; like watching paint dry." Jisung grumbled.

Changbin chuckled, no sympathy for Jisung's pain. "Come on, let's give these guys a chance. Maybe they won't be so bad."

"Or maybe they'll be even worse." Ever the pessimist, Jisung continued to grouch as Changbin let them in.

Once inside, they could hear laughing and chatter reaching them from the living room.

"Of course, they’d already be here; I bet none of them have ever been late to anything in their lives."

"You could stand to take a page out of their book in that regard." Chan's teasing voice sounded from behind them before he trapped Jisung in an affectionate headlock. Jisung struggled half-heartedly before giving in to the affection.

"You know, that isn't going to endear them to me." Jisung wheezed, still grumpy.

“Play nice!” Chan ruffled Jisung’s hair playfully, but then became more serious. "Give them a chance, please? They're really nice kids, promise."

"See, that's the problem." Jisung muttered, but Chan only rolled his eyes at him. 

“Let's go. We’ve been waiting for you.”

And that was another problem; not that he cared about the first impression he made, but he cared even less about having to mend a bad one.

Sulking, Jisung let Chan introduce them to each other once they made it to the living room, too, but he made no efforts to interact with any of them on his own. That in itself was not unusual, and none of Jisung's friends thought anything of it, more than used to Jisung needing time to get used to new people. 

***

Jisung kept it up and didn’t interact with the others for quite a while; and there were many group get-togethers in the following weeks, since Chan was hell-bent on getting his friends to get along with his boyfriend's friends. It kind of worked, too: Changbin and Felix seemed to hit it off with the boys surrounding Minho. And Jisung, well; he kept observing everything from the sidelines, taking his time. Eventually, he learned to appreciate at least the youngest, Jeongin, since he was a bit of a troublemaker, too. Over time, he also warmed up to Seungmin, despite him being arguably the biggest nerd in the group, with stellar grades and a perfect academic track record. He was witty, though, and street-smart in ways Jisung respected. Minho turned out to be much cooler than Jisung had expected, too, and they became friends.

The only one Jisung couldn't get along with for the life of him, was Hyunjin.

The pretty boy with his dramatic, loud and boisterous nature and a love for being the center of attention, grated on Jisung's nerves. He despised him, even more so because everyone else doted on him and showered him with the love and attention he so obviously vied for. Jisung couldn't stand it, and he made no effort to hide it. 

Eventually, Hyunjin noticed, too, and rather quickly he cornered Jisung during one of their get-togethers when Jisung went to the kitchen alone to get himself a new drink.

“What’s your problem with me?” He asked, without any preamble. There was no need or room for niceties between them.

“You piss me off.” Jisung answered, just as straightforward, as he closed the fridge.

“Why? What did I do?”

“Everything.” Jisung shrugged. “And nothing. It's not so much about what you did, but the way you are.”

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at Jisung, clearly displeased with his answer. “And that would be?”

“A boring Goody Two-Shoes who’s full of himself.” Jisung told him head on. “What, am I not allowed to not like that? Just because you have everyone else wrapped around your fingers and fooled by your charms, that doesn't mean I have to be, too.”

“You don’t. But you could at least try not to be an asshole to me.” Hyunjin glared at him. “Just ignore me if you have to.”

Jisung huffed. “I would, but it's not like your dramatic ass would let me. You’re always so loud, it’s impossible. And really, what for? It's not like you have anything to back it up.”

“And how would you know?” Hyunjin was pissed now. “You know nothing about me.”

“I don't need to know you to know your kind. Always bragging, parading around your looks, getting everyone to fall in love with you, yet you don't give anyone the time of day. And in the end, I bet you've never even held hands before, nevermind kissed someone.”

“What the hell?” Hyunjin scoffed, incredulous. “Of course I have; not that it’s any of your business!”

“Oh really? You know Seungmin doesn't count, right?” Jisung teased, enjoying the way their conversation was suddenly flustering Hyunjin.

“I didn't- That's not- That's not what I meant!” Hyunjin exasperated. “I haven't just held Seungmin's hand!”

“Oh, so Jeongin's, too? That's precious!” Jisung mocked, while Hyunjin's face grew redder; whether in exasperation or embarrassment was unclear. Jisung didn’t care, anyway, since he was just enjoying getting a rise out of Hyunjin.

“I haven't just held hands!” The other defended himself, again, clearly aggravated.

“You’re not going to tell me you've actually ever kissed someone, right? It's not nice to lie, you know.” Jisung kept taunting him, enjoying himself far too much.

“I'm not lying. I'll have you know that I'm actually quite a good kisser!” Hyunjin seethed. 

Jisung laughed in disbelief.

“What, in kisses on the cheek?” He mocked again, getting Hyunjin even more flustered and annoyed.

“No, you-” He broke off, only just barely refraining from stomping his feet.

“Come on, as if I would ever believe that!” Jisung chuckled, shaking his head derisively. “If you actually had any experience, why don’t you prove it?”

“Prove it?” Hyunjin nearly squeaked. “How does one prove something like that?!”

Jisung shook his head in mock disappointment.

“I knew you didn't have it in you.” He didn't sound surprised, and his tone clearly made something shift inside Hyunjin.

“Fine, I’ll prove it!”

“Go ahead!” Jisung crossed his arms, challenging and sure of himself. Before he knew it, though, Hyunjin had closed the distance and his lips pressed to Jisung’s. Jisung hadn't been expecting it, and he was stunned while Hyunjin deepened the kiss and positively took his breath and all rational thinking away, goading him into reciprocating and letting the simple kiss grow much hotter than it had any right to be.

Whooping and hollering eventually made them jump apart, suddenly physically unable to meet each other's gazes. One heartbeat later, Hyunjin stormed out of the apartment. The whooping stopped at once.

With a confused frown, Minho looked after his friend. 

“What the-? I better check on him.” He muttered, before following Hyunjin outside. The mood suddenly subdued, Seungmin and Jeongin also didn't stick around much longer.

“What the hell was that?” Chan eventually repeated his boyfriend’s question, confronting Jisung. 

Jisung shrunk under the attention and the judgmental tone, not answering. Chan softened his expression and voice.

“Jisung? How did you two end up kissing? I thought you didn't like each other?”

Jisung shook his head. “We don't.” He answered quietly, offering no explanation, either.

“So why were you-”

“I don't know! Okay?” Jisung all but yelled, suddenly. “I don't know. Because I'm stupid, maybe?” Mortified, he hid his face in his hands.

Despite being confused, slightly judging, and not really condoning whatever had just happened if it hadn't been discussed and consensual, Chan was still worried about Jisung and couldn't stand to see him distressed. Gently, he drew him into a hug, holding him close as he tried to gather his bearings and make sense of what had just happened.

“You better talk this out. Soon. You don't want to hurt each other, no matter what kind of rivalry or spat you have going on.”

Slowly, Jisung nodded against Chan's chest. He hated it, but Chan was right; he knew that this was on him, and he had to be the one fixing it, even if Hyunjin had been the one kissing him first. Not that that meant that he would do it immediately, but he would do it. Eventually.

***

Despite his promise, weeks passed, weeks in which Jisung did nothing. Or rather, he did his best to avoid Hyunjin. He couldn’t even look in his general direction without immediately thinking about the kiss they’d shared.

And now, he had to confront _himself_ about what that meant, and what that weird fluttering sensation in his gut that acted up every time he so much as heard something that sounded vaguely like Hyunjin’s name was. Or why he had felt his heart drop and like crying when he was told Hyunjin hadn’t come to one of their gatherings that Jisung was sitting out after all, because he’d sprained an ankle and was really down about not being able to dance, and not in the mood for gatherings. Or why he _had_ cried (just a little) when he’d heard that Hyunjin had been caught making out with some dude under the staircase of the arts building - just to find out the next day that it was a completely different Hyunjin, and then cried into his helmet in relief on his bike on the way home.

The avoiding game wasn’t played just by Jisung, though, since Hyunjin did his part, too. Neither appeared during any gatherings of both friend groups during the next weeks, always asking if the other would be present when something was being planned and backing out if the answer was affirmative. Their friends, in the meantime, got closer, doing more and more things together and making the radio silence between the two even more awkward for everyone.

“You need to sort your shit out with Hyunjin.” Changbin grumbled eventually, during one of their gaming sessions.

Jisung scoffed, beating up Changbin's character on screen.

“What, the way you sort your issues out with Seungmin?”

“Seungmin and I don't have any issues.” Changbin answered calmly. “We talk to each other, like civilized people, and don't avoid each other.”

“But you pine after each other so hard it’s painful to watch.”

“We don't pine after each other.” Changbin grumbled, letting his frustration out on the controller as he counter-attacked Jisung. “It's just me doing all the pining.”

Jisung groaned as his character took a fatal hit and died on screen; that was not the reason for his groan, though.

“You're ridiculous, hyung.” He sighed.

“Takes one to know one. And this isn't about me and Seungmin. This is about you and Hyunjin. Just go talk to him and sort your issues!”

“I want to make it about you and Seungmin, too, though. If I have to talk to Hyunjin, you talk to Seungmin and ask him for tutoring sessions.” Jisung bargained.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Changbin sighed. 

“Neither does me going to talk to Hyunjin out of the blue.”

Changbin sent Jisung a peeved glare, before an idea struck him “Should we make it a bet?”

“Bet?” Jisung felt sudden dread well up in him. “What bet?”

“How about, if I win the next round, you talk to Hyunjin tomorrow. If you win, I ask Seungmin for tutoring sessions.”

Jisung had not been expecting that, but he could hardly turn down that kind of challenge. Determined, he got ready to obliterate Changbin in the next round of the game.

“I love that idea.” Felix unexpectedly butted in before Jisung could agree to it. “Can I join? And if I win, both of you go talk to your crushes!”

“Who says you’ll win?” Changbin laughed. “What if you lose?”

“If I lose, I’ll make you home cooked meals every day for a week.” Felix offered up without hesitation.

“Hell yeah!” Jisung shouted excitedly. “Lets get it, hyung; let's show this pipsqueak how to play!”

In hindsight, Jisung should’ve just shut up, but one was always smarter after the fall. And Felix absolutely destroyed both of his friends in the next round of the game.

“I'm sure he cheated!” Jisung cried in defeat, slumping against Changbin's side when the game was over. “There is no way!”

Changbin, too, looked a little pale, but he accepted his defeat much more gracefully.

“Just admit you’re a sore loser.” Felix laughed, shoving at his friend. “I better hear from Minho-hyung tomorrow evening that both of you have talked to your boys!” 

“You’re so cruel.” Jisung whined, but he was already trying to figure out what to say to Hyunjin when he finally couldn’t avoid the confrontation any longer.

***

‘Confrontation’ might not have been the right choice of words. What Jisung was planning to do was much less a confrontation, but a confession, after all. That didn’t help at all with his nervousness, but he would not back down this time. Honoring his part in the bet, he sought out Hyunjin the next day.

Hyunjin was nervous, and even standoffish. Jisung couldn't even fault him when he refused to drop his guarded expression, given their history.

“What do you want?” Hyunjin asked, rudely, once Jisung had him alone in an empty hallway of the arts building.

“I just wanted to talk to you and apologize. For the other day, and in general. For being an asshole to you for no reason.”

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes, disbelieving. “Who told you to apologize; Chan-hyung?”

Jisung shook his head. “No. I mean, he did, right after-... But I didn't do it then. I'm here right now because I want to apologize out of my own volition.”

Hyunjin didn’t look convinced, and so Jisung elaborated. “I’ve been meaning to for a while, I just needed to… find the courage, I guess. I'm really sorry, and for teasing you as much as I did that one time, too. I don't even know why- Wait, no. I do. I- I did it because I wanted you to snap and kiss me. But I guess I only realized that way after it actually happened.”

“You what?” Hyunjin looked like he believed that even less than the original apology. “You wanted me to kiss you? Why?”

“I don't kno-” Jisung interrupted himself. “I suppose I've had a crush on you for a while now. Even since before- I just couldn't admit it, not even to myself, because I had my head too far up my own ass."

“That’s such a kindergarten excuse. And a really cruel one, at that!” Hyunjin sounded choked up, a suspicious shine in his eyes as he averted his gaze. When he looked back up at Jisung, anger so potent that it had Jisung stumble back flashed in his irises. “I swear, if this is a joke, it's not funny. It's really not, and you'd be an even bigger asshole than I already think you are!”

“It’s not!” Jisung exclaimed. “I swear. I like you, even though I don't really understand when that happened. I just can't stop thinking about you. And even though I've been a coward and been avoiding you, I've really wanted to get closer to you.”

Hyunjin looked suspicious, not trusting Jisung’s words. “What do you even know about me that you can like?” He muttered.

“Plenty, actually.” Jisung sighed. “I like your sense of humor, your jokes, your antics. You’re really funny, and I've been an idiot to keep myself from laughing along when you joke around with the others. You’re adorable, and your clumsiness makes me want to protect you, even when it makes me laugh. You are pretty, too, of course. And I really admire your passion for dancing and how good you are at it, and how smart you are, too. I'm really grateful to you, too, for how kind you are to Felix, and have been even since before our friend groups merged.”

While Jisung pretty much ranted, Hyunjin slowly started to believe him, even if just a little, and decided to take a leap of faith.

“I…” He started carefully when Jisung stopped to breathe. “I do like you, too. Even if that makes no sense, because you definitely don't deserve it. But, ever since that day... I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And the way you kissed me back... And…” He trailed off, his momentary burst of courage petering out. “And if this was all still just a joke or a ploy to get me to admit my feelings, I absolutely will tell Minho hyung about it and he will break your legs!” He tacked on.

Jisung laughed, Hyunjin’s confession making him feel oh so light and happy, while his threat provided the necessary amusement to break the tension.

“It’s not a ploy, I promise. Besides, if it was, I’m sure Chan-hyung would do much worse to me for upsetting both you and Minho-hyung, and no offense, but I'm much more scared of him!”

For the first time, Hyunjin laughed, too.

“Can I- can I kiss you?” Hyunjin eventually asked, once he'd stopped laughing; now completely serious, yet also hesitant, unsure.

Jisung's stomach swooped so hard it nearly knocked him off his feet. All he could do was nod, and Hyunjin stepped closer, cupped Jisung's face in his hands, and kissed him. Deeply. Expertly. Definitely not the kiss of someone who’d only done it a handful of times before, and it left Jisung's head spinning.

When they parted, slightly breathless, Hyunjin leaned his forehead against Jisung's.

“I'm sorry, too, by the way.” He confessed quietly. “For kissing you without your consent back then. That was an asshole move, too.”

A small smile played around Jisung lips. 

“It's okay. I never blamed you, since that had been my goal all along, even if I only figured that out later. It was also what I needed to start pulling my head out of my ass. But it's really sexy of you to remember to ask now and to apologize for back then. Almost as sexy as the rest of you.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up!” He exclaimed, though quietly.

“Make me?” Jisung taunted, still a little unsure of himself and whatever this was with Hyunjin, though, and wondering if the other would want to-

Before he could overthink it, though, Hyunjin kissed him again, thoroughly, until his brain went fuzzy and his knees weak. And if he was being honest, he couldn't imagine himself ever getting tired of this. Hopefully, Hyunjin wouldn't, either.


End file.
